Sunday, April 26, 2009

Hello. It's Sunday morning here and the skies are heavywith grey clouds, and the neighborhood is sodden andmisty with rain. The proverbial April showers are makingthe most of the final days of that month here, but hey, atleast it's not snow!!

The weather started out beautiful here yesterday morning,although strong winds made my plans to have an afternoonspent sitting in the sun cross stitching a bit of wishful thinking.Just holding a book to read became a struggle as the windsnatched at the pages and tried to lift the entire book outof my hands. So I ended up taking refuge in the house,sitting in my comfy chair, with my magnifier and Ott Lightfor company. And Phoebe of course.

By late afternoon severe weather warnings were being postedand DH, who'd been sitting in the relative shelter of the backyard reading a book, came in to start battening down the hatches(windows) as the dark and threatening edge of a storm approachedfrom the north. Once the house was secure DH and I sat outin front of the house and watched that first storm as it sweptnorth of us without so much as a drop of rain to spare for us.

But not fifteen minutes later another menacing storm frontappeared, and this one headed right for us. We got lots ofheavy rain, which lashed against the house in waves, drivenby strong gusts of wind and there was thunder rumbling andgrumbling over our heads to add to the drama. We'd beenwarned that we might get hail but thankfully (here at least)we didn't see any of that. It rained off and on for the rest ofthe day, and during the night as well, though the wind hasfinally died down.

Moving on to stitching updates....

Here is my progress on my butterfly project from My Aunt'sAttic. The first of four butterflies is done, and isn't shelovely?? Stitching time continues to be minimal here, soI have only been able to work on this piece during the weekend. I have also started my next square on the Prairie Birdsproject, but there's not a whole lot to show there yet so I'llwait until next time to post a picture.

Yesterday there was a book sale held at the local highschool and of course I just had to be there. DH, longsuffering but patient and understanding, drove methere and chose to remain and help to carry anytreasures that I might find during the course of thehunt. We got there at 8:30, half an hour before thedoors opened, and I spent the time waiting chattingwith a lovely older gentleman who was there to lookfor books both for himself and for his Autistic grand-daughter. He was from England originally and soof course we talked about England, as well as aboutbooks. It made the time pass quickly and pleasantly.

In the picture above you can see some of the booksthat I came home with. When the doors to the schoolauditorium opened the patiently waiting line up ofpeople filed through the doors like an orderly tidalwave of humanity, and once in the room we disperseddown the various aisles of books and began our quest.

I hit the craft section first, looking for books on cross stitching.The five books pictured above were the result. For $2.00each I was quite pleased with this haul let me tell you. Anice, diverse selection of styles and patterns and the one,Sampler and Antique Needlework, is especially wonderfulas it's full of historical information as well as patterns, andit was put out by the publishers of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

I picked up a wonderful book on the history of the RoyalAlexandra theatre in Toronto as well and that book is areal treasure indeed. A beautifully illustrated history ofthat magnificent, venerable old building, where I've seenmany a great live show over the years. Les Miz, MammaMia, and Crazy for You, just to name a few. Over a hundredyears of theatrical history. I'm going to enjoy reading thisone.

It was great fun browsing the tables full of books, and theboxes of books on the floor under the tables as well. Younever know what you'll find, and over the years of goingto this sale I've found some great stuff and since themoney goes to charity it's all good and relatively guiltfree.

I read two books this week during my commute homefrom work. The first book was a romance/fantasy byfirst time author Lesley Livingston who turned out tobe from Toronto. I didn't realize that until I'd finishedreading the book and was checking out the author'sinfo on the back cover.

Kelley Winslow is a 17 year old girl who has moved toNew York City to pursue her dream of an acting career..She is understudying the role of Titania in a productionof A Midsummer Night's Dream when the lead actressbreaks her ankle and Kelley finds herself taking on therole.

Kelley soon discovers that the magic and wonder of theplay that she has become a part of is by no means afantasy. While practicing her lines in Central Park shemeets Sonny Flannery, a handsome young man who ischarmed by her spirit and her beauty, and Kelley soondiscovers through him that the veil between the mortaland the Fae worlds is a thin one indeed.

Sonny is a Janus, guardian of the Gate between thisworld and the world of Oberon and Mahb and Titaniaand all the sprites and spirits that are portrayed socolorfully and brilliantly in Shakespeare's play.It is his job to keep the often not so pleasant denizensof the other realm from cross through the gate into themortal world during a crucial nine day period at theend of October.

As is so often the case in Shakespeare's plays, all is notoften what it seems in this story, and that certainlypertains to both Kelley and to Sonny, as well as to thosethey work with or serve. They find themselves drawnto each other other, while dangerously powerful elementsmanipulate and deceive to achieve their own ends.

This was another light, cute read. Easily picked up andread, fairly enjoyable but not outstanding, and then putaway and forgotten. I imagine that there will be sequels,if good sales of this first book warrant them, and I may ormay not pick them up.

The next book that I read this week was one that I'dseen mentioned in various blogs and was curious tocheck it out for myself.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society turnedout to be a wonderful, charming and totaling absorbingread, start to finish. I loved this book!!! It is a storytold through the letters written between the residentsof the Channel Island of Guernsey to a young womanliving in London who is herself an author.

The letters in this book begin in 1946 as a correspond-ence between Juliet Ashton, writer and author living inpost WWII London, and Dawsey Adams, pig farmerand founding member of the Guernsey Literary andPotato Peel Pie Society. Adams finds Juliet's name onthe inside of a book by Charles Lamb that was onceowned by her and writes to her in hopes of gaining herassistance in finding more books by that author.

Intrigued by the letter, and delighted to connect withanother lover of books Juliet writes back, and so beginsa correspondence that soon expands to include otherresidents of the island (members of the Society andothers) as well as friends of Juliet's. When she learnsthe story behind the forming of the Literary Societyduring the years that the island was occupied by theGermans Juliet is fascinated and curious to find outmore about that time and the experiences of the peoplewho lived through it.

I was enthralled by this book after just a few pages,and couldn't put it down until it was done. Full ofdry wit and charm, it is also a poignant telling of aterrible time during the war and how the Islanderslived through it and endured the privations, and thedespair.

Juliet herself is a firecracker. Bored and drained bypost war life in London and from traveling throughthe country promoting her first book Juliet doesnot suffer fools (and irritating newspaper reporters)gladly. She is not adverse to the occasional throwingof a tea pot when provoked enough, and she ispassionate about books, loving and loyal to herfriends and she finds herself falling in love with thepeople and the lives that she reads about throughthe letters from Guernsey. So much so that sheeventually packs her bags and travels there tomeet her new friends and to take a break from herlife and from a persistent suitor determined to wedher.

This is a story that will have you laughing out loudoften, but will cause you to shed a tear to two aswell. It is a short read and you'll wish it were twiceas long by the time it's done, if not longer. I countthis as a book that I'll read again and again, and it'llbe one of my "treasured books" that I cherish always.

Do read this one!!

The next bunch of daffodils to open in the front gardenwere these sweet little beauties with their bright orangeegg yolk centers. I've heard several people in the neighbor-hood say that this has been an exceptionally good year fordaffodils, with lots of blooms. Don't know why this shouldbe so, but it is. The grass is almost totally green andbuds are appearing on bushes and trees. Spring is mostdefinitely on a roll now.

I'm keeping up with my walking faithfully, and addinga little bit to the route each week to make it last longer.I still hate exercise and would far rather plant my amplebutt in a comfy chair then take it for a brisk march throughsuburbia, but sacrifices must be made I suppose. It's alltoward the greater good. Monday night it was rainingsteadily when I headed out and since I can't walk withoutswinging my arms, and carrying umbrellas impedes thatmotion, I went without. I was pretty much drenched whenI got home but felt pretty proud of myself for having thefortitude to get out there and make the effort in suchinhospitable conditions. I suspect that walking in heatand humidity during the coming months will be more ofa challenge for me then soggy feet and dripping noses.

Congratulations to Lynn at Kearnals Corner who had afantastic, gorgeous finish this week of Cirque de Cercles.Go see it as soon as you can because it looks amazing!!

Time to finish this off and get on with the days chores.Hope you have a wonderful week everyone and thanksfor stopping by!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Hey there!! It's been two long weeks since last I posteda blog update and as usual I'm also sorely behind in mycommenting on all my favourite blogs (which includesyours!). Time is a valuable and rare commodity for methese days, and it runs away from me quick as lightning.I feel bad about that, and very frustrated too. But wecan only do what we can do, and I can only promise totry and arrange my free time better in the future. Andhope to win a lottery soon so I can quite work anddevote more time to the important things in life...you know....like reading, stitching and blogging andeven (eeeewww...) housework.

I did finally manage to finish the third square on myPrairie Schooler project Prairie Birds. I love this onebest of the three even though it also gave me the mostheadaches to stitch. A plague of frogs don'tcha know.I think I've settled on the next three that I'll stitch forthe upper row, and decided what order I'll stitch themin, so I'll be starting that project tomorrow.

Meanwhile, at home, I had a few hours yesterdayafternoon to sit down and stitch and since I amdefinitely off my rocker I decided to start a newproject. Do you recognize it?? It's one of thoseamazing free designs from My Aunt's Attic andI'm stitching it with Needleworx thread, whichI have been collecting for awhile now but havenever used before. It's lovely stuff. This will bestrictly a home project because I'm stitching iton 32 count fabric and I really need my magnifierto see this clearly enough to do a good job.

The lovely model in the picture who is helpingto show off my little start was a gift from myMom and was made by one of the ladies at theresidence where she lives. Cute, isn't she??

I had a little win on Ebay a few weeks ago and itarrived the other day. Two older charts thatcaught my fancy and that I'm terribly pleasedto have. Another seasons chart for my collectionand a chart with adorable bunnies in it.

Spring has been making tentative steps forward inthe past few weeks and we've had some lovely days(usually on a workday of course) to enjoy. Thecrocuses are done and we're now in the Daffodilphase of the season. These are growing in ourfront garden, which gets the warm afternoon sun,and I'm surprised and delighted that this year I'mgetting a whole slew of Daffodils blooming. UsuallyI get four or six flowers, but this year I'm gettingtwice that number. It's very exciting.

DH has been home on vacation this past week, andis off next week too, and he's been working in theyard and garden whenever the weather allows. He'scleared the leaves from the back gardens and nowwe can see all the new growth coming up there, andthe spring flowers are starting to bloom. It's so niceto see green growing things again. The grass is juststarting to change from it's drab brown wintercolour and patches of green are slowly spreadingacross the yard. One day we'll look out the backdoor and the yard will be uniformly green and we'llwonder ... when did that happen???

Lots of reading news to tell you about. Here we have awonderful historical fiction by Anne Easter Smith. It'sher second book and was every bit as enjoyable as herfirst which was A Rose For The Crown. She writesabout the time before Henry VIII, when Edward IVwas king.

The first book told the story of a young woman whofell in love with (and was loved by) young Richard,Duke of York who would become the infamousRichard III.

In this book the story centers on Edward'syounger sister Margaret, and tells of her life and hereventual marriage to Charles, son of the Duke ofBurgundy. In this story the author chooses to haveMargaret fall in love with Anthony Woodville, brotherof Edward IV's queen Elizabeth Woodville. Anintelligent and devout young woman, Margaret isdevoted to her family and loyal to England but hermarriage is not a happy one, her husband being abrutal and autocratic ruler who sees himself as aCaesar, intent on conquering and expanding hisholdings regardless of the cost to his people andhis homelands.

Anne Easter Smith writes with care to detail andobviously does her research well before writingeach of her books. She brings that era of historyalive and paints her characters with attention toaccuracy, and with honesty and fairness. She hasbecome a favourite writer of mine now and I lookforward to reading her newest book The King'sGrace.

A light read came next after the hefty (though riveting)work of Anne Easter Smith. I picked up DebbieMacomber's latest book which continues the stories ofthe folks working and living around the shops onBlossom street.

Anne Marie Roche is a young widow who owns a bookshop on Blossom Street. She and three other widowsget together on Valentine's Day to celebrate the daytogether and during the course of the evening comesup with the idea of each one of them making a list oftwenty wishes that they would like to have come true.

Although the other three ladies take to Anne Marie'sidea with enthusiasm Anne Marie herself is reluctantand finds it difficult to come up with even just a fewwishes of her own. Still grieving over the death ofher husband Anne Marie's world is rocked by therevelation that her husband may have had an affairand a child with another woman.

But when she fulfills one of her wishes, as a volunteerat a local public school as a lunch buddy to a younggirl named Ellen, Anne Marie slowly begins to overcome her grief and despair as she comes to care forEllen and opens her heart and her home to the lonelyyoung child.

The book also follows the stories of the other threewidows who make up their own twenty wishes, andcharacters from previous Blossom Street books makeappearances along the way too.

These are pleasant, easy to read books, with somewhatpredictable stories. But they make a nice light readand you can't help but get caught up in the lives ofeach of these women as they begin to rebuild theirlives and find love again.

This is the first book that I've read by Kate Atkinson.I'd read excellent, enthusiastic reviews of her booksin magazines and on line and was curious to find outfor myself what she was all about.

This book features a reoccurring character by thename of Jackson Brodie who accompanies his girl-friend Julia to the Edinburgh Festival where she isappearing in a play. Brodie witnesses a road rageincident that almost sees a man killed by the base-ball bat wielding driver who rear ends him, andfrom there the story evolves in a series of coincidencesand connections that weave together to bring the book toa satisfying conclusion.

The journey to reach that conclusion however didgive me cause to consider ditching the book,unfinished, on several occasions. I very, veryrarely leave a book unfinished once I've started itand since I'd committed myself to the time (andmoney) to get this book and start reading it Ikept on at it. And in spite of myself my curiositywas piqued.

The story is told from the view points of a halfdozen of the characters, including Brodie's, andwhat a miserable bunch they all were. Everyonewas depressed about their lives, everyone hatedtheir jobs or felt them to be superficial or inadequate,their spouses or partners unloving and distant, andso on. I found myself getting depressed just readingabout them and I found it very hard to care whathappened to them. And as the coincidences andconnections built up, and the sometimes illogicalactions of some of the characters (Brodie) cameinto play I got frustrated and annoyed.

But I wanted to know what would happen next.

Well written? Absolutely. Sneakily addictive?Apparently. Satisfying conclusion? Yup!!! Dark,dry humor as well. This is a book that would beworth checking out and sticking with but it mightnot suit everyone's taste or style. I have a secondbook by this author to read, and I will read it...someday, but right now I want to get anotherDebbie Macomber, or perhaps a Nora Robertsbook to pick me up and lighten my mood.

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Easter was spent with my Mom who arrived hereearly on Sunday afternoon for lunch and then we satand watched Mamma Mia, which Mom thoroughlyenjoyed. My SIL joined us for a roast beef dinnerwith all the trimmings later on that afternoon.

Saturday of last week we were at a birthdayparty for the 8 year old son of friends and hada great time with good people and incrediblefood.

Somehow, during the entire 3 day long Easterweekend I never had the time or opportunityto put needle to thread. Very frustrating.

Along with a number of you folks out there I'vestarted to make a few lifestyle changes to try andget my health and weight into more acceptablelines. Inspired by Dani I joined Weight Watchersand am making slow but steady progress, althoughit's early days yet.

I have also started walking after dinnerevery night and have been doing that for about amonth now. At first I was a panting, wheezing, legbenumbed mess at the end of each walk, but after aweek or so my stamina began to improve and thedizziness (!!) went away. Now I'm starting to addmore steps to the route I walk to make it longer andmore of a challenge.

I have a long road to follow (no pun intended)before I reach my target weight, but I keepreading Dani's blog for further inspiration, aswell as the blogs of others also making thesechanges and goals in their own lives, and I hopeto actually see some changes in my appearancesomeday soon.

To those of you who are making these changesand following this path as well... my heartfeltbest wishes and deepest admiration go out toyou.

I guess it's time to finish off this post for anotherweek and get on with the day. Hope you are welland have a great week with time to do all thethings that make you feel good and lovely Springweather to do them in.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Hello. How are you??? So nice of you to stop in and visitfor a little while. Please make yourself at home, and watchout for crazy cats and tumbling piles of books. Can I makeyou some tea???

I was dreading this post today because I didn't have all thatmuch to talk about. It was one of those weeks that flies byand you don't know where it went, and what you did duringthat time, but it's gone and you've nothing to show for it.Well, except for a small bit of stitching, most of which wasdone during breaks at work.

I'd say I'm at the half way point of the Cardinals squareon Prairie Schooler's Prairie Birds. The frogs have beengleefully hopping around this one ever since I started itand it's driving me batty!!! It's the dang branches of thepine tree. I keep stitching blithely away on them and thenrealizing after I've done a section that I've made them toolong. GRrrrrr!!

But I'm still enjoying this project, in spite of the #@%*$frogs (and my own limited powers of observation). Thepine cones are so sweet and the whole design is quite, Idunno, nicely laid out, and conceived. It's got a lightnessto it. Oh, you know what I mean. I will finish this squarenext week and then move up to the second row and stitchthree more squares from the chart before I call this done.

Since I haven't much to write about in my life this weekI thought I'd show off some of the wonderful things thatwere made for me over the years by my dear and veryawesomely talented friend Linda. Linda is the personwho introduced me to cross stitching (and shouldtherefore be responsible for the large stash charges on myVisa bill.... but I digress) and who's mentored me throughthe learning experience and beyond.

Linda doesn't sew as much as she use to, so I cherishthe pieces that I have all the more for that. So here aresome of the things she's made, many of which are inthe library. This is appropriate since Linda also sharesmy passion for books and has been my inspiration forpursuing my dreams for my library and collecting of books.

The blue bear is one of my most favourite things that she'smade for me. The fabric design is just lovely, and thelittle touches that she's added to him are wonderful.

He's got a sweet face, with a tiny smile and a cute nose,and the buttons for his eyes are perfect. Perfect seams,stuffed firmly and put together to accent facial featuresand the fabric's floral designs, this guy is just the best.

One Christmas Linda made me a bear pair, Mr and Mrs,that I have displayed in my dinning room ever since.This is Mr Bear, resplendent in his cap and vest and velvetpants. He's very furry so you can't make out the eyes on hisface in this picture, but they are bright and cheeky.

I love the heart shaped buttons on his vest (yes, Lindamade the clothes too) and the tie around his neck.Linda's always been about the details when she creates.He's quite the sartorially well dressed bear. Perfect forsupervising and observing fancy meals in the dinningroom.

Mrs Bear has quite a long skirt on but I pulled it upjust a bit so you can see her feet. More gorgeousfabric for her skirt and jacket, and a jaunty hatperched on her head allow Mrs Bear to complimenther debonair husband perfectly.

When I saw a rocking horse that Linda had made forherself I loved it so much that I asked her to make meone too. And she did. The legs are hinged so that I canadjust them and set them to allow the horse to standjust so. Shiny threads are woven through mane andtail for added elegance.

Mr Humpty Dumpty is another that I fell in lovewith when I saw Linda's own. I love the fabricthat she used to make his clothes and he is a bitfloppy which allows me to prop him and pose himanywhere in the library that I want to.

I have several variations of this doll, which are patternsdesigned by Alma Lynn (I think). Linda took the basicdesign and went to town creating clothes and trims andother details to give each doll her own personality andstyle. Trimmed with lace around her shoulder cape, andwith a band featuring sweet bunnies around the hem ofher dress, this little lady is all ready for Easter.

There's more to show you but I think they will have towait for another day since this post is becoming quitepicture heavy. But I'm glad to have the opportunityto show you my wonderful treasures that my dear friendhas made for me over the years.

Added a few more books to the library this week, includingThe Lace Reader, which has been featured on many a bookblogger's site during the past several months. Quite apopular book, generally well reviewed, which I am lookingforward to reading. In fact most of these books have beenmentioned on book blogs, or have been review on them, andhave caught my interest.

I'm reading a book by Anne Easter Smith right now, thesecond book of hers that I've read. I'm about half way through.So review will have to wait until it's done, probably next week.

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DH and I drove down to London again yesterday to see ourGodson Ian who was taking part in the graduating class play atthe Galleria Mall location of Fanshaw College. They did theirown version of A Three Penny Opera, which was a moderntake that they not only performed but also wrote parts for.The main focus of the play was poverty in the London areaand the students researched various aspects of the problemand wrote those observations into the play. This researchincluded visits to homeless shelters and food banks as well asother services, and on line and in-library visits.

The performance was about two and a half hours long butthe time flew by. Some parts of the play were a bit abstractand the set design was quite minimal but the performanceswere outstanding and often very intense and powerful. Inever found my attention wandering, or the time draggingat all during the performance. Such a wildly talented bunchof young people. DH and I are so very proud of Ian and whathe's accomplished in his two years of study at Fanshaw, andwe know he's relished every minute of it.

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It's hard to believe that Easter is next weekend. I'm lookingforward to having Friday off work and hope to get somepremium stitching time in. We've already got plans for bothSaturday and Sunday so Friday is our only free day.

The crocuses are in full bloom now, and the daffodils areprobably going to be in bloom in time for Easter, which willbe nice. Tulips are just starting to make significant headwaynow but are still probably several weeks away from blooming.

We had a ton of rain on Friday, which broke records andcaused some flooding in areas. The sun came out yesterdayafternoon though and it's a beautifully sunny day today,although a bit cooler then the average temperature for this year.

So now it's time to move on to the usual Sunday chores andstuff, so I'll wrap this up and bid you all a good day. Hopeyou have a great week and get lots of time to stitch, withminimal intervention from the frogs. Take care and thanksfor visiting.